In several accidents where cars have accelerated uncontrollably, the drivers have claimed that there has been a fault with the cars. But the car manufacturers, for their part, claim to have data showing that the cars can be acquitted. Who can we trust?
How can a modern car accelerate on its own? Can errors in cameras, sensors, electronics and software create situations that cause the cars to accelerate on their own? Independent inspectors are powerless to find such faults in the accident cars. You are dependent on information that only the car manufacturers can provide. But can we trust that data created by cars out of control is not corrupt? Can we trust that the car manufacturers do not hide information that could trigger compensation claims and put them in a bad light? When the police summarize all the information, they end up focusing on the driver. Maybe it will just be an insurance case. But charges, confiscation of driving licenses and imprisonment can also be issued.
Torgallmenningen in Bergen
One night in May 2023, a Tesla Model Y taxi sped wildly across Torgallmenningen in Bergen. The taxi driver claimed that the brakes did not work. According to Tesla's data, the brake pedal had not been activated, but instead there were changes in the angle of the accelerator pedal, which none of Tesla's driver assistance systems can do by itself. The district court did not rule out technical error, but found it more likely that it was driver error. The police were thus able to maintain the seizure of the driver's license until the case was investigated. The driver risks prosecution and punishment.
Paris
In December 2021, the same thing happened in the center of Paris. A Tesla Model 3 - also a taxi - took off at full throttle without the driver being able to stop it. It ended with one person killed and 20 injured. The taxi driver was prosecuted for irresponsible driving. He sued Tesla. Based on conclusions from an expert group, the court came to the conclusion that Tesla could not be blamed for the accident - but added that they could not rule out technical error either.
It is hard to imagine a taxi driver sitting with his foot convulsively on the wrong pedal over several hundred metres. You don't have to search the internet for a long time to find similar accidents with the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y where the drivers are blamed based on data from Tesla's software.
The case of the Audi 5000
The theory that drivers stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake has for many years been a main theory behind unintended accelerations. Then Audi 100 C3 was launched in the US as Audi 5000, the model caused 6 deaths and more than 700 accidents due to it taking off at "full throttle" with terrified people on board. The main theory of stepping on the wrong pedal was explained by the fact that the Audis automatically adjusted up the idle speed after putting the car in "Drive" without accelerating. Then the car sped up a bit - and the driver, who perhaps had no foot near the pedals, planted his foot in panic on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal.
Based on these experiences, Audi introduced Automatic Shift Lock which requires you to keep your foot on the brake before shifting from "Park" to "Drive". This means that you have full control over the gas and brake when you start maneuvering the car. All cars with automatic transmission – also electric – have this solution today.
Fornebu S shopping centre
In January 2023, a woman gets into her car to drive out of the parking garage at the Fornebu S shopping center outside Oslo. She later told the media that she had taken her foot off the brake and barely touched the gas pedal when the car suddenly sped up by itself. The accident car, a Jaguar I-Pace, was examined without any faults being found. The police concluded that the cause of the accident was due to driver error.
Another Norwegian car owner experienced that the car accelerated uncontrollably while reversing from the garage and crashed into a stone wall, which resulted in minor injuries.
An online user forum reports several similar accidents while parking. There, someone has launched a theory that the position and design of the pedals can mean that you press down two pedals at the same time and that the gas pedal should have been moved a couple of cm to the right. It is hard to believe that there is not a more serious error behind it. In one case, the user forum reports on a woman who experiences that her I-Pace suddenly accelerates inside a workshop. After the car had hit the wall, a mechanic arrived to reverse the car. He experienced exactly the same thing, and barely managed to prevent the car from continuing to accelerate again. The point here is that the man was a car mechanic.
Ended up in prison
In March this year, a 31-year-old man from Bolton, UK, experienced his Jaguar I-Pace accelerating on its own on the motorway. The police blocked off the entire motorway so that eight police cars through a so-called "box maneuver" were able to bring the runaway car to a complete stop. As a result of a survey carried out by Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, the driver was jailed for dangerous driving and disturbing the peace. The car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, could point to data which indicated that the gas pedal had been in use during the incident. The wild ride can hardly be called a "joy ride" can it?
Most people who have experienced problems with unintended accelerations while parking have escaped without injury because the victims were able to stop the cars with the brakes before they reached too high a speed. Then you probably only have one second to react.
Sandvika Storsenter
It was not enough for the man in his 60s who died from the injuries he sustained after his car accelerated uncontrollably through the outer wall of the parking garage at Sandvika Storsenter and fell down 4 floors. The incident happened a short time ago in September 2024. The car in this case was a 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge – a model that was recalled in 2022 due to corrosion in an APS circuit that could send corrupt signals and cause, among other things, unintended acceleration. The accident is under investigation by the Norwegian Road Administration and Volvo has also promised a full investigation.
In online user forums for Volvo and Polestar owners, several of them have experienced that their cars have made uncontrolled movements when stopping and parking, with only material damage. The car owners are looking for common features for the incidents and there is speculation that they can be linked to the OPD system One Pedal Driving in combination with the "creep" function that lets the car roll gently when you don't touch the gas. It is difficult to draw any conclusions about the events on the user forums, as several of them occurred during the period when Volvo carried out a recall action.
Volvo probably has a problem
Earlier, in the same month as the accident in Sandvika, a married couple in Drammen experienced a similar incident. They have told Dagbladet that when they were about to turn in and brake up in a courtyard, the car suddenly speeds up, hits a curb and plunges over an edge and lands on an embankment. No injuries, fortunately. The driver is absolutely certain that she had not used the gas pedal. The car was one 2023 Volvo C40 Recharge. The Volvo XC40, C40 and Polestar 2 share the same powertrain. Altogether, this includes 38.500 registered cars in Norway.
Were older cars safer?
Incidents of unintended acceleration have been occurring for many years. With previous car models, however, it has been easier to find the causes, for example that someone has stepped on the wrong pedal, that a pedal has come in contact with the floor mat or that the throttle cable or the return spring has locked. If the car were to move away, you simply put the car in neutral or neutral, braked down, before calmly swerving to the side and turning off the ignition.
What to do
What can one do in a modern electric car if the car suddenly starts to accelerate by itself? All the mentioned car models can be put in "N" (neutral). Tesla says that the car will stop if you hold down the P button. However, since the transmission from gear selectors takes place via electronics, it is not certain that either "N" or "P" will work when the car accelerates uncontrollably. What has probably saved many people is that they have reacted immediately and pressed the brakes very hard or that the car has hit an obstacle before it has reached high speed. Considering the serious consequences in Sandvika Storsenter, it is better to steer towards an obstacle as early as possible - and risk a penalty - instead of the car gaining great speed. This is of course difficult.
A vicious circle
Unfortunately, drivers can be held liable after an accident because technology makes it difficult for independent inspectors to find fault with the accident cars on their own. They are dependent on the car manufacturers' experts, who rely on data produced by the car itself - and this is precisely where the core of the problem lies. For example, if a sensor feeds the car's brain with corrupt signals, the signals can be registered and misinterpreted as real events. This is a problem that also exists in aviation. The technology that generates data only logs what the software has detected at a specific time. It could just as well be a faulty sensor or corrupt signal - not necessarily something the driver has done. The data may exonerate a car manufacturer, but should not be used as evidence to convict drivers.
In well-written, industrial software, there are on average between 15 and 50 small and large errors per 1000 lines of code.
The car industry also has a responsibility. There have been so many incidents that it can no longer be ruled out that the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, Jaguar I-Pace, Volvo XC40/C40 and Polestar 2 and others can perform irregular and unintended accelerations. Together, they have more than 150.000 cars on Norwegian roads. The automotive industry has developed assistance systems to avoid accidents. Tests carried out by the American AAA show that the car manufacturers' solutions are not perfect, but quite good at satisfying the test procedures of Euro NCAP and IIHS (link). It is therefore time that the test procedures also include solutions that can prevent unintended accelerations.
Measures?
- No new car should be released on the market without blocking or warning when two pedals are pressed at the same time - a safety feature that should be included in Euro NCAP and IIHS checks.
- With today's technology, it is possible to prevent full throttle from standing still straight into a brick wall or other fixed object a few meters away. This is precisely what often happens during unintended accelerations.
- Being in a car that accelerates and cannot be stopped is a horror scenario that many people have experienced over time. Couldn't the car manufacturers agree to introduce an emergency lever next to the driver's seat that cuts off the power to all engines and puts the car in neutral? If nothing else, such an emergency lever should be standard in cars with self-driving functions.
Just to be safe.
See
How to get rid of the XC40 car now, which we were unfortunately so stupid to buy in 2023? Nobody wants to buy a Volvo electric. hereafter?